Little Voices
by epic.is.what.i.aim.for
Summary: REPOST. Why did she have to be the one? The one in his head. The one always there even when she wasn't. The one he had inadvertently fallen for. KxR. ONESHOT.


**So ...brand new fandom for me. XD **

**Now, that's not to say I'm a newbie. This is just my first time posting...**

**Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

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Rouge.

_Rouge._

There it was again. That little voice in his head. Saying her name over and over again. It was irksome. Just enough to make him doubt his sanity. He rolled his eyes heavenward.

_Why me?_ He pleaded.

Why did she have to be the one? The one in his head. The one always there even when she wasn't. The one he had inadvertently fallen for.

He let out a low growl. He was not in love with her. It was just not possible. _She was irksome_. As much as an itch in the middle of his back. The one spot he couldn't reach far enough to scratch. The itch he couldn't rid himself of. That's what she was.

_Rouge_, the little voice called again. This time it was slow and deliberate, an attempt to purposely annoy him.

It was enough. It was more than he could take.

"Get out of my head!" He roared, pounding a fist against his own head. He would beat himself silly if he had to, if that made it go away.

But it didn't help. Now the little voice was laughing at him. Mocking him.

He paused. _Why so high-pitched?_

And then ...

"I'm not in your head. I'm standing right in front of you."

Rouge walked out from behind his precious emerald, that beautiful smirk twisting her lips. It sent a chill up his spine. His mouth fell open, speechless.

How could she have known what he was thinking? Or trying _not_ to think?

And then he realized, she couldn't. But it was too late. His face had told all and she knew she had beat him. She knew she had won before he could even begin.

His mouth snapped shut like a steel trap capturing his own tongue.

Rouge moved another step away from the jewel. Realizing how unprotected he had foolishly left the emerald, Knuckles jumped in front of it. Crossed his arms defensively.

Rouge scoffed, "As if..." She sauntered further away, proving her disinterest. Almost. Knuckles had his doubts. He always did, when it came to Rouge most especially.

"What do you want?" He spat, his voice lower, his tone less patient, much less than he usually was with Rouge. And he wasn't much.

"Oh nothing really..." She teased, her wings extending and shrinking back in a stretching motion.

His mind slowed down, as if everything she did was in slow-motion. There was a dreamy glow about her. He squinted but it didn't help.

_Oh God_, he thought. _I really am going insane_.

Rouge ignored the strange expression on his face. She was too distracted by her own thoughts.

"I'm just so bored today." She sighed. "Nothing is satisfying me."

Knuckles swung his gaze to meet hers, snapping out of his daydream.

"Oh so you thought you'd come bother me? Or maybe you thought my emerald could satisfy you?"

He glared into the sunset behind her. Evening was coming upon them fast.

She glared back at him, real frustration behind the look. She was sick of the accusations. And she questioned her intentions for visiting him in the first place.

_Why couldn't he just be nice for once?_ She mused.

"I haven't made a move for that dull thing in weeks. So what makes you-"

He cut her off harshly. "Dull? My emerald is the most beautiful jewel you've ever seen and you know it!"

She rolled her eyes. His inborn male density was getting under her skin in the setting sun's heat.

"What is your obsession with that thing?"

He flinched, straightening his stance indignantly. Pride puffing out his chest as he took a breath.

"I am the guardian of-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know that. I'm a treasure hunter, you're the emerald's guardian. I get it, but ..." She sighed, at a loss for words now that she had successfully stolen his.

Knuckles' frown deepened and he was itching to butt in again. But a little voice in his head told him not to. And he was finally listening.

"There's got to be something more!" Rouge finished, exasperated by it all. She took a few steps toward him, her hips swaying in a praticed manner.

Knuckles' vision was hazy again. Slow-motion.

"What is it about me that really bothers you?" She placed her hands on each hip firmly. She searched his face, his eyes, for some unspoken anwser.

His eyes widened the slightest bit. He was doing his best to control everything inside, to stop it from showing on the outside. A knot formed in the back of his throat.

Her eye twitched. It felt like tears might form, as if she might cry. She lowered her eyelids, taming the tear ducts, holding back the feelings.

"Why do you hate me so much?" She hadn't meant to shout but the frustration was pouring out. Thankfully not from her eyes. She blinked expectantly.

Knuckles moved back, surprised by the sudden outburst. His eyes fell and he glared at the ground.

"I don't hate you ..." He grumbled, avoiding her intense stare. "I-I just ..." He kicked the dirt gently. He wanted to walk away. Right then. He knew he should have.

"You what?" Rouge spat. All the playful banter haunted her now. It felt like a ruse and she was sick of being hidden. She wanted to know what was behind the facade.

Knuckles looked up and glared. He shook his head and turned his back huffily. He had nothing to say to her.

_And yet so much._

The little voice was back. Combined with Rouge's sudden appearance and with what she was now demanding to know, he felt like he was gonna blow. He needed to walk. Get away. From her, from it.

"You what?" She shouted again. "What is so wrong with me that you can't even look at me without that disgusted frown?" She was on the edge.

He spun around, angrier than ever, no way to let it out.

"I don't hate you! I hate the way I feel-" His jaw snapped shut before the last two words could slip out.

About. You.

_Shut up_, he thought.

Rouge didn't flinch at the outburst. Though she was on edge, though she felt vulnerable. Her eyes slitted.

"And how do you feel?" She whispered angrily.

"Wrong." He spat, looking away again.

"About what?" She pestered. About me? She wondered.

Flicker. He met her eyes again. Sharpened gaze.

_Why is it all about me?_ He thought. What was her deal anyway?

"Well, what about you? I know you don't like me either."

Wounded eyes. It hurt her to hear the words. So open and clear.

"Don't turn this around on me, Knuckie. I'm asking the questions here."

He shook his head.

"Not anymore. I wanna know why."

She shrugged nonchalantly. Naively. As if she didn't know what he wanted her to say.

"Well, I can't say exactly. You're... you're just..."

"Not good enough, huh? Not like _Shadow_."

She tensed, taut like a tightrope. When she snapped, someone would get a good lashing.

"Shadow? What the... What's he got to do with anything?"

"We all know how you feel about him." He scoffed. As if he had just reached this conclusion. "It's so clear now..."

Rouge shifted, on the verge of stomping her foot. On the verge of attacking the echidna before her.

"What is? What the h-ll are you going on about?"

"You. Me. You don't like me because of him."

Her brows creased deeply.

"You make no sense!" She shouted, in his face now. She was losing control.

"It's perfect sense! You just don't wanna hear it!" He shouted back.

"I don't even know what you're saying!" Her arms flapped around like her wings soaring the air.

"You don't love me because you love him!" He shouted.

Silence. Her arms fell limp. Her tense muscles relaxed.

He froze. Stood straight like a board. Like an idiot hiding behind a tree trunk. Hoping to disappear when he stood in plain sight.

"Wh-who said anything about l-love?" Rouge stuttered finally. She fell a step away from him.

He closed his eyes, silently cursed himself.

_What ...have I done?_

He watched the sun slip further and further away. Watched his everything fall away from his grasp. There was no way to get it back.

"You love him, don't you?" He reiterated, singling out the only part of that horrible sentence not about him and his stupid feelings.

Rouge regained her composure, seeing how much he had lost his. She crossed her arms over her chest, batted her sparkling blue eyelids.

"I think the real question is: do you love me?" She wore confidence like clothing. It hid her fears and insecurities underneath. And it slipped on and off with as much ease.

Knuckles blushed some more, if that was even possible. He had one option: denial.

"I don't know where you got that idea." He snorted. Looking away, avoiding the hurt in her eyes.

"No, no, no," She stepped up to him again. "Don't you start that with me! You love me and you want to know if I love you back. Admit it!"

This was gonna hurt him more than her.

"You're full of yourself, you know that?"

Slap.

Yeah, that hurt.

He rubbed his cheek roughly, as if smearing off a lipstick stain. He would have to put his pride back together later.

She turned away abruptly. The tears were falling now. She didn't know how to turn them off. But she wouldn't let him see. He didn't deserve her anyway.

"Run off and find your boyfriend now. I'm sure he can cure your boredom."

He saw her shoulder shake. Was it reflex? A flinch? Was it laughter? An annoyed shrug?

_I don't care_, he told himself.

"You've stayed long enough." He added, sealing the deal, signing his own death certificate.

She was shaking more. How was this funny to her? Why was she laughing so hard? So quietly?

He walked up behind her. Slapped an insensitive hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you-" He spun her to face him.

She looked horrible. Her mascara, eyeshadow was running, smearing all over her face. She was covering her mouth and nose. Her hand wet with tears...snot.

_This is bad_, he thought.

_Now look what you've done!_

She was done pretending. She shook her head, moved her hand so she could speak.

"I don't love Shadow. At least, not the way... I love you."

He didn't deserve her. He knew that now. She was being more honest with him than he could ever be with her.

He chuckled softly. A blush spreading.

"Now why would ya wanna go and love someone like me?"

A meek smile crossed her features. She shrugged, giggled.

"I have no freakin' idea."

His smiled faded into all seriousness. He looked down, embarassed, unworthy.

"I ...well, I-"

She stopped him.

"I know. It's okay."

Her smile infected him. Contagious as it was beautiful. He had so much practice fighting the feelings, it was harder now to just give in.

A smile crept across his face. He took her hands in his.

"How is this thing gonna work then?"

She cocked her head innocently.

"I know you have a plan. You always do. It's one of the things I ha-love ...most about you." He added.

She blushed with ease. Flirting was her forte.

She titled her face up to his until his breath intertwined with hers.

"Give me some time to think about that." She whispered slowly, surely, until he was the one closing the space between them.

Some things would never change.

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**"As far as it depends upon you, be peaceable with all men." -Romans 12:18**

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